Most Popular Girls’ Names: 130-Year Overview

We often look at the name stats of the most popular girls’ names for a year, or even a decade, but sometimes it’s enlightening to take a longer view.  Our ever resourceful and creative contributor Nephele has taken on the task of tabulating what the highest numbers of names were given to babies for each letter of the alphabet over the 130 year-period from 1880 to 2009. (Whew!– 1,430,841 Lindas!  592,450 Pamelas!)

There are some interesting surprises– even taking into consideration how the percentages for top names has changed over the years—such as the fact that there have been twice as many Annas as Anns (ethnic impact), that Bertha tops Beatrice, that Ida squeaks past Isabella (though probably not for much longer), that half of the top K names relate to Katherine, and that Ashley is the second highest ‘A’ name over the whole period.  And of course, with lesser used letters, you’ll find some highly unusual choices on the list: 352 Uyens were enough to push their name into the Top 10.

So here, for your perusal, the Top 10 most popular girls’ names for every letter of the alphabet, followed by the total number given over that entire period.  Boys will follow tomorrow.

A

1. Anna 844,721

2. Ashley 810,539

3. Amanda 775,095

4. Amy 673,333

5. Angela 650,496

6. Alice 536,538

7. Ann 466,050

8. Andrea 407,937

9. Amber 361,061

10. Annie 341,551

B

1. Barbara 1,430,841

2. Betty 997,901

3. Brenda 603,062

4. Beverly 375,746

5. Brittany 352,737

6. Bonnie 321,710

7. Brianna 217,433

8. Bertha 207,288

9. Beatrice 186,749

10. Bernice 181,213

C

1. Carol 814,860

2. Cynthia 703,453

3. Catherine 644,294

4. Christine 581,231

5. Carolyn 551,816

6. Christina 467,239

7. Cheryl 438,617

8. Crystal 324,138

9. Charlotte 272,679

10. Connie 265,669

D

1. Dorothy 1,103,983

2. Donna 829,179

3. Deborah 737,433

4. Debra 549,812

5. Diane 516,998

6. Doris 460,976

7. Denise 368,965

8. Danielle 356,205

9. Diana 347,092

10. Dawn 288,111

E

1. Elizabeth 1,551,446

2. Emily 740,527

3. Evelyn 496,781

4. Emma 494,711

5. Erin 303,513

6. Edna 293,335

7. Ethel 278,507

8. Ellen 269,584

9. Edith 262,069

10. Eleanor 254,466

F

1. Frances 585,173

2. Florence 333,857

3. Faith 106,484

4. Felicia 89,968

5. Fannie 84,350

6. Flora 66,626

7. Faye 65,947

8. Freda 42,282

9. Fern 35,984

10. Francine 35,405

G

1. Grace 429,853

2. Gloria 406,620

3. Gladys 265,543

4. Geraldine 208,895

5. Gail 201,434

6. Gertrude 176,637

7. Gina 150,941

8. Georgia 141,005

9. Gabrielle 116,286

10. Gwendolyn 112,280

H

1. Helen 1,011,952

2. Heather 521,812

3. Hannah 374,321

4. Hazel 231,918

5. Holly 194,270

6. Haley 143,712

7. Heidi 134,849

8. Hailey 116,056

9. Hattie 95,380

10. Harriet 87,366

I

1. Irene 348,029

2. Ida 184,942

3. Isabella 178,122

4. Isabel 98,536

5. Irma 72,706

6. Iris 68,620

7. Isabelle 66,969

8. Inez 66,872

9. Iva 36,779

10. Ina 33,293

J

1. Jennifer 1,452,361

2. Jessica 1,028,351

3. Janet 554,177

4. Joyce 504,518

5. Julie 501,804

6. Joan 479,142

7. Jean 457,135

8. Judith 449,679

9. Julia 425,686

10. Jacqueline 409,931

K

1. Karen 978,990

2. Kimberly 810,987

3. Kathleen 708,239

4. Katherine 605,781

5. Kelly 464,649

6. Kathryn 442,215

7. Kathy 332,278

8. Kayla 309,565

9. Katie 225,568

10. Kristen 214,666

L

1. Linda 1,448,243

2. Lisa 961,852

3. Laura 785,814

4. Lauren 440,612

5. Lillian 384,868

6. Lori 339,795

7. Lois 331,131

8. Louise 330,872

9. Leslie 257,808

10. Lucille 215,861

M

1. Mary 4,100,822

2. Margaret 1,230,897

3. Michelle 794,026

4. Melissa 740,752

5. Martha 545,061

6. Marie 531,851

7. Maria 518,934

8. Mildred 449,919

9. Megan 425,971

10. Marilyn 364,816

N

1. Nancy 998,423

2. Nicole 565,999

3. Natalie 288,996

4. Norma 276,602

5. Nellie 147,988

6. Naomi 128,297

7. Nina 117,309

8. Nora 112,393

9. Natasha 91,321

10. Nichole 62,136

O

1. Olivia 286,351

2. Opal 67,675

3. Olga 60,879

4. Olive 46,206

5. Ollie 40,504

6. Ora 38,743

7. Ola 29,430

8. Odessa 17,014

9. Ophelia 15,221

10. Octavia 14,451

P

1. Patricia 1,568,194

2. Pamela 592,450

3. Phyllis 322,142

4. Peggy 292,366

5. Paula 275,345

6. Pauline 225,367

7. Pearl 152,708

8. Patsy 119,155

9. Paige 118,220

10. Priscilla 113,729

Q

1. Queen 13,515

2. Quinn 7,686

3. Quiana 3,854

4. Queenie 3,421

5. Qiana 2,490

6. Quincy 2,430

7. Quanisha 1,535

8. Quintina 1,017

9. Quianna 837

10. Quanesha 686

R

1. Ruth 815,076

2. Rebecca 731,800

3. Rachel 544,625

4. Rose 468,660

5. Ruby 321,870

6. Robin 287,684

7. Rita 281,489

8. Rhonda 207,710

9. Renee 181,655

10. Regina 172,937

S

1. Susan 1,118,529

2. Sarah 1,033,595

3. Sandra 870,102

4. Stephanie 725,135

5. Sharon 718,835

6. Shirley 683,628

7. Samantha 520,751

8. Sara 405,508

9. Shannon 292,524

10. Sheila 236,709

T

1. Teresa 409,717

2. Theresa 401,444

3. Tammy 331,239

4. Tiffany 330,042

5. Tina 290,129

6. Taylor 284,130

7. Tracy 249,862

8. Thelma 224,983

9. Tara 171,393

10. Terri 145,485

U

1. Ursula 14,319

2. Una 7,339

3. Unique 5,408

4. Ula 1,534

5. Uma 816

6. Ura 507

7. Uriah 491

8. Uniqua 482

9. Ulanda 364

10. Uyen 352

V

1. Virginia 643,864

2. Victoria 428,909

3. Valerie 242,206

4. Vanessa 235,395

5. Veronica 209,649

6. Vivian 183,455

7. Vicki 153,072

8. Vera 132,304

9. Viola 129,705

10. Vickie 109,867

W

1. Wanda 280,749

2. Wendy 257,731

3. Willie 146,090

4. Wilma 139,446

5. Whitney 91,798

6. Winifred 42,499

7. Willa 22,400

8. Winnie 22,323

9. William 15,786

10. Wendi 14,407

X

1. Ximena 7,310

2. Xiomara 5,711

3. Xochitl 3,839

4. Xenia 2.016

5. Xitlali 1,279

6. Xena 1,273

7. Xochilt 1,224

8. Xitlaly 1,154

9. Xavier 775

10. Xaviera 582

Y

1. Yvonne 154,288

2. Yolanda 111,390

3. Yvette 61,821

4. Yesenia 36,466

5. Yasmin 16,716

6. Yadira 11,358

7. Yasmine 10,942

8. Yazmin 6,622

9. Yessenia 6,559

10. Yajaira 4,989

Z

1. Zoe 73,848

2. Zoey 24,006

3. Zelma 16,648

4. Zella 11,309

5. Zelda 11,279

6. Zora 6,684

7. Zola 6,359

8. Zoie 5,943

9. Zaria 5,881

10. Zena 4,899

Plenty to chew on here—did you find anything particularly interesting or surprising?